Safe no more? Swiss franc slide raises Russia puzzle

“The repatriation of Russian flight capital is certainly a live theme, but the latest geo-political tensions are just adding fuel rather than being the root cause,” said Christopher Granville, managing director at consultancy TS Lombard. He noted Russia had joined the Automatic Exchange of Information on Financial Accounts, an OECD initiative to crack down on tax dodging, in 2016, but its information exchange process with partner countries, including Switzerland, went live only in January 2018. “Since Russian tax residents can no longer be sure of keeping their money safe in Switzerland, they feel they might as well repatriate and take advantage of a tax amnesty at home - then pay tax at (Russia’s) 13 percent rate,” Granville said.